Living Church of God's Ken Frank has an entry up on LCG's "Living Education", that sad stepchild of the now-defunct Living Univerity.
You remember Living University, don't you? It was that super amazing, mind-boggling institution of higher learning that was the best thing God had ever imagined on earth. They even brought back Michael Germano, the Chancellor of two previously failed universities to run it. Three's the charm, Bro!
Anyway, Frank's article is about "clergy abuse." Seriously!
LCG talking about clergy abuse, who would have ever imagined!
Don't hold you breathe boys and girls, it's not about abusive LCG clergy, but those bad boy Pharisees.
We all know that LCG clergy has NEVER been like those bad Pharisees! Have they?
David Guzik in his Enduring Word Commentary explained the widows’ poverty: “In that day, a Jewish teacher could not be paid for teaching – but he could receive gifts. Apparently, many scribes used flattery and manipulation to get big gifts from those who could least afford to give them – such as widows.” The scribes were highly respected in their society whether they deserved it or not. Jesus explained that at least some were less than honorable in their teachings that encouraged people to financially support them generously. Guzik continues: “The Jews of Jesus’ day taught that teachers were to be respected almost as God; they said that they deserved more honor and respect than any other people in life did. They taught that the greatest act someone could do is give money to a teacher. Of course, it was the teachers themselves who taught this!”
Jesus commended this widow for giving more in proportion to the treasury than all the wealthier donors who gave of their abundance (literally, “superabundance”). According to the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, “These rich men do not seem to have been observing the injunctions both sacred and Talmudic to give secretly, Mat. 6:4; Mat. 6:18.” By contrast, Jesus warned in His Sermon on the Mount against a loud, public display of one’s generosity: “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:2).” Jesus’ words “do not sound a trumpet before thee” are explained by The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary: “The expression is to be taken figuratively for blazoning it, Hence, our expression to ‘trumpet.'” These religious hypocrites did all they could to create an ostentatious display when they contributed to the treasury.
No wonder Jesus denounced such hypocrites. Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible declared, “If there is any sin of special enormity, it is that of taking advantage of the circumstances of the poor, the needy, and the helpless, to wrong them out of the pittance on which they depend for the support of their families; and as God is the friend of the widow and the fatherless, it may be expected that such will be visited with heavy condemnation.” These sobering words warn every religious leader against uncaring fund-raising from impoverished donors, especially if the leader’s income depends on it. We all will be wise to remember these words of the Psalms, “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation (Psalm 68:4-5).”
